Dilshan R Jayakody’s Web Log

TX-7700 is AM/FM stereo tuner manufactured by Pioneer in around 1975 - 1980. This is a basic tuner system which is specifically designed for " rack style " stereo systems. Compare with other tuner systems this tuner is not very popular and very limited information is available on the internet about this model. This tuner is mainly built around HA1138 AM radio receiver, HA1156 stereo decoder and PA3001 (HA11225) FM IF amplifier IC. The TX-7700 which I got is manufactured for Japan and because of that it is designed to work with 100V AC and frequency range is limited to 76MHz to 90MHz. In this quick post, we demonstrate how to tune this stereo receiver to 88MHz to 108MHz by without modifying the circuit(s) of the tuner. In this tuner, the main component which needs to adjust is 5 turn inductor located in FM front end circuit (refer A in below photograph). The frequency range of the tuner can be adjusted by changing the spacings of this inductor. If tuning is getting dif...

When working with an expensive speaker system, speaker protector is an essential item to avoid any damages to speakers. In this project, we build a low-cost speaker protector by using NEC's μPC1237 IC. The circuit in this project is based on μPC1237 datasheet and it is specifically modified to work with 24V AC power source and with the 24V relay. Prototype version of μPC1237 - 2 channel speaker protector system. PCB design of this project is limit to 90mm × 43mm and based on through-hole components. Depending on the supplied voltage and relay, the value of R7 resistor is needed to be changed. The specified value in the schematic is for 24V AC power source and for Omron 24V G2R-2 relay. Start-up delay of this unit can be adjusted by changing the values of R5 and C5. Schematic and PCB design files of this project are available to download at google drive .

CoCA "Emerge + Tech" - Musical plants is an electronics, software and plants base exhibit we developed for Cinnamon Colomboscope 2016 exhibition. This installation will feature a touch-sensitive sensor that will generate a soothing sound from each plant. By interacting with individual plants, the audience can create musical compositions. The sensor unit of this project consists of 14 high sensitive, configurable level detectors and USB interface. In this sensor unit, we use Samsung's KA2284 as an amplifier, level detector, and PIC18F4550 8-bit MCU as data multiplexer and USB I/O controller. PC817 optoisolators are used to interface between analog front-end and digital data processor. In this design, both analog and digital circuits are physically and electronically isolated to minimize the noises and interferences. In this design, we use KA2284 because it is commonly available in the local market (in Sri Lanka) and costs less than 0.1 USD. To reduce the interfer...

TC-500 is 4 track stereo reel to reel player which is built around 1960 - 1970 by Sony Corporation. This is vacuum tube base reel to reel player with 2 × 3W audio output power. TC-500 is dual speed (3¾ and 7½ ips) tape recorder and it support reels up to 7 inches (18cm). Amplifier stage of this tape recorder is built around 12AX7, 6AU6 and 6AQ5 vacuum tubes and the 12BH7 tube is used in biasing oscillator. Other than above tubes, 6CA4 is used in PSU for rectification. Restored Sony TC-500 reel to reel tape recorder. Recently we got a chance to restore TC-500 reel to reel player which we got from our friend. The player which we got is heavily damaged and we spend nearly 2½ months to restore this player. In the first stage of restoration, we disassemble mechanical parts of this player and clean everything. In this player capstan idler wheel and take-up, idler wheel is damaged beyond repair and we reconstruct those wheels using rubber sheets.

HD-1410 is quite popular iambic keyer which is manufactured around the 1970s by Heathkit . The original HD-1410 keyer is designed using 5 commonly available 74LS series TTL ICs and 8 transistors. Other than iambic operation it has an option to adjust sidetone frequency and support for (external) single-paddle key unit. In this project, we redesign the original HD-1410 electronic keyer with today's commonly available components. In this new design, the key components which we replace are transistors, diodes, and power supply section of the original HD-1410 circuit. Most of the NPN transistors in original design are replaced with KSP42 and KSP10 transistors, and all the PNP transistors are replaced with KSP92 transistors. To keep everything simple we also use the same TTL chip-set with this new design. PCB of modified Heathkit HD-1410 electronic keyer. Tested PCB layout for this new keyer is available in the project archive and this PCB layout is based on standard through-...

This is simple Colpitts oscillator to test commonly available passive crystals which range between 2MHz to 27MHz. This unit must connect to an oscilloscope and/or frequency counter to get the frequency of the crystal. This circuit is designed to work around 9V to 12V DC power source. Both 2SC930 transistors can replace with any high-speed NPN transistor such as 2SC829, 2SC933, etc. Testing 5030kHz FT-243 crystal using a prototype version of crystal tester. In our lab, we use Manhattan-style layout to prototype this crystal tester and it produces highly accurate results with an above-specified frequency range. According to our observations, after 27MHz, the amplitude of the waveform starts to decrease steeply. Schematic and Stripboard wiring layout for this crystal tester is available to download in here .

Curve tracer is an electronic test instrument to analyze the characteristics of transistors and other discrete semiconductors. In this post we construct USB base curve tracer to analyze properties of NPN transistors. This curve tracer is build around Microchip's PIC18F4550 MCU and it use simple Windows based GUI application to plot captured data of a transistor. In this design PIC18F4550 MCU is used to establish USB connectivity, perform voltage readings and control current/voltage flow into the test subject. To minimize the cost and to make it simple, we use R2R ladder circuit to generate discrete collector-emitter voltage levels for the transistor on test. In each scan session collector-emitter voltage level get increase from 0V to 7.5V in 256 steps. In this design, "tracer" scans the transistor for 7 base current levels which are in between 7µA to 60µA. In viewer application collector-emitter voltage levels are plotted on x-axis and collector current is plotted o...